1373 / 2024-09-25 20:58:32
Using amino acid stable carbon isotope values to trace marine primary organic aerosols
Western Pacific; marine primary organic aerosol; POC; amino acid; compound specific isotope analysis
Session 66 - Biomarkers in the sea: the tracers of key biogeochemical processes in the ocean’s past, present and future
Abstract Accepted
As a major constitute of marine aerosol, marine primary organic aerosol (mPOA) is formed by the sprayed seawater into the atmosphere. The mPOA can alter the radiation balance in the atmosphere, and can influence the formation of clouds as cloud condensation nuclei and ice nuclei. A better understanding of mPOA is of great significance to promote the construction of global climate change models, though it currently lacks available approach to reliably quantify the relative contribution of mPOA in marine aerosols. In this study, we investigated the amino acid carbon isotopic distribution of marine aerosols and suspended particles in the seawater. Based on the relative enrichment factor k obtained in sea spray aerosols (SSA) simulation experiments, the amino acid carbon isotope values in aerosols were applied to estimated the relative contribution of mPOA in aerosols over Western Pacific and South China Sea in aerosols. Our findings suggest that amino acid carbon isotopes can be used as an indicator to trace the relative contribution of mPOA in open oceans.